Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again.

| Book Review |

One Small Thing is the story about teenager, Beth, who is suffering the after-effects of her sister’s death in more ways than one. Beth may not have fully dealt with the fact that her sister is dead, but her parents have basically enshrined anything that belonged to Rachel, and they’re cautious to the point of smothering when it comes to their surviving daughter. And it’s causing Beth to rebel in ways she never has before. So after reading the first three books in the Royals series from this team of authors, it’s clear that they favor exaggerated teen circumstances to reality, and sometimes that works. Here it just felt even more extra than extra. (Minor spoilers ahead – these occur near the beginning of the story, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider them spoilers; some people might.) Pretty much kidnapping her college applications and removing the door to her bedroom as punishment were so over the top for me, not to mention terrible parenting. Beth’s parents were so steeped in grief they couldn’t even recognize it in their daughter. The mother was the most infuriating to me. She would occasionally give Beth commiserating looks, but never once stood up to her husband. She was so spineless and such a terrible role model for her daughter. Ironically, it’s Chase, the young man who had a hand in her sister’s death, who causes her to really examine the way she is acting, and while I did enjoy the part of the story that made her reflect on her actions, I felt like her parents came around to her way of thinking way too quickly. There was zero no authenticity there. Not to mention that her terms were something her parents never would have agreed to.

Beth’s friends were so fair-weathered, and her classmates were terrible people. There was not a redeeming one in the bunch. It was like Beth and Chase were the only decent people in school, and that’s something I find so stereotypical in YA. EVERYONE is a villain except for your main characters. It’s them against the world, yada yada yada. Nothing new to see there.

I will say that the highlight of this story for me was Chase, even though I don’t understand the attraction between him and Beth. He was a solid kid, he’d learned from his mistakes, and he was just trying to piece his life back together. The way he kept punishing himself, even while I understood it (and it was probably the only part of the story that felt credible to me,) really broke my heart. I also really liked the thread of forgiveness here as Beth was able to see who Chase was and that he was devastated by what he’d done. It was so freely given, and I liked that she wanted him to move on.

Ok – so the way this book ‘ended’ really gave me whiplash, because…where even was the ending? I was so shocked when it was all over, because there was very little closure. However, having said all this, I have to admit that this book had me in it’s thrall while I was reading it; I was totally addicted! And for all that drove me nuts about One Small Thing, I still wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to someone who’s a fan of YA books.

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10 thoughts on “ARC Review | One Small Thing by Erin Watt”

I’m glad overall you ended up enjoying this one. I like the idea of forgiveness, but there are a lot of clichés I don’t know if I could get past. I agree that a lot of the characters don’t sound realistic.

Yes, this book didn’t work for a lot of people, and I can see why. For me, I feel the same, but I still found it addicting enough to keep going.

Yes – I loved the idea of forgiveness. In this age of social media, it seems standard to hold grudges and rehash every single thing a person has done wrong in their lives. It’s a sad place to be, and sometimes feels like there’s no recognition of personal growth. (Not for me, just in general. Wow – that got deeper than I meant it to! LOL)

I love stories where the characters work through issues (otherwise, where would the drama be), but I’m not fond of overly stereotypical characters. I am glad you were able to enjoy the book for all it drove you nuts 🙂